A Late Bronze Age ring-forst at Bayvil Farm, Pembrokeshire

A 70m-diameter circular ditched enclosure identified as a cropmark in 1996 at Bayvil Farm, Eglwyswrw, north Pembrokeshire, was initially thought to be a segmented-ditched enclosure, an early type of Neolithic henge. Geophysical survey in 2012–13 and partial excavation in 2014 has shown it to be Late Bronze Age ring-fort dating to the eleventh-tenth centuries BC and subsequently occupied during the Early Iron Age. Late Bronze Age circular enclosures of this kind are well known in eastern England but this is the first such ring-fort to be discovered in Wales. A medieval corn-dryer identified by geophysical survey was also excavated which is probably to be associated with the probable traces of the medieval settlement of Bayvil, associated with the redundant St Andrew’s Church which has possible medieval origins

Excavations at Castell Mawr Iron Age hillfort, Pembrokeshire

Castell Mawr is a small hillfort in the community of Eglwyswrw, Pembrokeshire. Thought to have been built on a Late Neolithic henge, it was investigated with four trenches in 2012–13. These excavations revealed that Castell Mawr’s main period of construction and use was in the Earliest/Early Iron Age during the late eighth–late fifth centuries BC with hints of an earlier human presence on the hilltop in the Late Mesolithic and Bronze Age. No definite evidence of any Neolithic activity was found, however, and the earthworks all date to the Iron Age. The hillfort’s Iron Age sequence started with a roundhouse, followed by a pair of concentric timber palisades built during the late eighth–late fifth centuries BC. An enclosing rampart was constructed around the hilltop, followed by a cross-bank. The final activity post-dating the cross-bank dates to the fifth century BC, slightly earlier than or contemporary with initial construction at nearby Castell Henllys. The Castell Mawr/Castell Henllys sequence confirms Murphy and Mytum’s (2012) model for long-term processes of settlement development in west Wales

Time and energy constraints and the relationships between currencies in foraging theory

Measured foraging strategies often cluster around values that maximize the ratio of energy gained over energy spent while foraging (efficiency), rather than values that would maximize the long-term net rate of energy gain (rate). The reasons for this are not understood. This paper focuses on time and energy constraints while foraging to illustrate the relationship between efficiency and rate-maximizing strategies and develops models that provide a simple framework to analyze foraging strategies in two distinct foraging contexts. We assume that while capturing and ingesting food for their own use (which we term feeding), foragers behave so as to maximize the total net daily energetic gain. When gathering food for others or for storage (which we term provisioning), we assume that foragers behave so as to maximize the total daily delivery, subject to meeting their own energetic requirements. In feeding contexts, the behavior maximizing total net daily gain also maximizes efficiency when daily intake is limited by the assimilation capacity. In contrast, when time available to forage sets the limit to gross intake, the behavior maximizing total net daily gain also maximizes rate. In provisioning contexts, when daily delivery is constrained by the energy needed to power self-feeding, maximizing efficiency ensures the highest total daily delivery. When time needed to recoup energetic expenditure limits total delivery, a low self-feeding rate relative to the rate of energy expenditure favors efficient strategies. However, as the rate of self-feeding increases, foraging behavior deviates from efficiency maximization in the direction predicted by rate maximization. Experimental manipulations of the rate of self-feeding in provisioning contexts could be a powerful tool to explore the relationship between rate and efficiency-maximizing behavio

Long-distance landscapes: from quarries to monument at Stonehenge.

Stonehenge is famous for the distances moved by its stones, both sarsens and bluestones. In particular, the bluestones have their geological origins in West Wales, 225km away. Recent excavations at two of these bluestone sources – one for rhyolite and one for spotted dolerite – have identified evidence of megalith quarrying around 3000 BC, when Stonehenge’s first stage was constructed. This remarkable movement of bluestones from Wales coincided with a decline in regional cultural distinctions between west and east, suggesting that building Stonehenge may have served to unify the Neolithic populations of Britain

Identification of environmentally stable QTL for resistance against Leptosphaeria maculans in oilseed rape (Brassica napus)

© The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Phoma stem canker, caused by Leptosphaeria maculans, is a disease of world-wide importance on oilseed rape (Brassica napus). Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mediated resistance against L. maculans in B. napus is considered to be race non-specific and potentially durable. Identification and evaluation of QTL for resistance to L. maculans is important for breeding oilseed rape cultivars with durable resistance. An oilseed rape mapping population was used to detect QTL for resistance against L. maculans in five winter oilseed rape field experiments under different environments. A total of 17 QTL involved in ‘field’ quantitative resistance against L. maculans were detected and collectively explained 51% of the phenotypic variation. The number of QTL detected in each experiment ranged from two to nine and individual QTL explained 2 to 25% of the phenotypic variation. QTL × environment interaction analysis suggested that six of these QTL were less sensitive to environmental factors, so they were considered to be stable QTL. Markers linked to these stable QTL will be valuable for selection to breed for effective resistance against L. maculans in different environments, which will contribute to sustainable management of the disease.Peer reviewe

Megalith quarries for Stonehenge’s bluestones. Review

Geologists and archaeologists have long known that the bluestones of Stonehenge came from the Preseli Hills of west Wales, 230km away, but only recently have some of their exact geological sources been identified. Two of these quarries - Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin - have now been excavated to reveal evidence of megalith quarrying around 3000 BC - the same period as the first stage of the construction of Stonehenge. The authors present evidence for the extraction of the stone pillars and consider how they were transported, including the possibility that they were erected in a temporary monument close to the quarries, before completing their journey to Stonehenge

Provisional Survey of Aitutaki, Cook islands Sites and Monuments May-June 2017

The archaeological survey work detailed in this report was undertaken by Colin Richards and Jane Downes (University of the Highlands and Islands, UK), Kate Welham (Bournemouth University, UK), Francisco Torres Hochstetter (MAPSE, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile) and Lawrence Shaw (New Forest National Park Authority, UK), working with Ngaakitai Pureariki (Punarei Aitutaki), with the permission of the Aitutaki Council, and Cook Islands Research Permit (Ref. 15-16a), working between 23rd May and 2nd June 2017. The archaeological work comprised site survey and location using GPS, geophysical survey, and surface collection of artefacts. A database of the sites has been produced as a Cultural Heritage Record, and lodged with the Aitutaki Islands Council. All artefacts have been left on the island with the Aitutaki Islands Council

Commentary - Better lung health for all: A British Thoracic Society and Pan African Thoracic Society initiative

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